Advanced and Future Treatments for Parkinson’s

Learn about forthcoming therapies, upcoming clinical trials, and new breakthroughs on the horizon.

Where Parkinson’s disease
treatment is today

The first area focused upon by doctors treating Parkinson’s disease
today is replacing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls and coordinates
movement. Parkinson’s disease destroys the cells in the brain that create
dopamine. As levels of the chemical fall, the body is unable to move and
function as it once did. Falling dopamine levels translate to increasing
movement impairment.

The most commonly prescribed treatment for Parkinson’s disease seeks to
stimulate dopamine receptors and relieve the symptoms caused by the decline in
the neurotransmitter. However, over time, these medications become less
efficient, and patients are no longer able to take them. In addition, these
medicines do not reduce or eliminate many of the non-motor symptoms of
Parkinson’s disease, including mood swings, depression, forgetfulness, and
sleep disturbances.

Unfortunately, research has yet to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
However, each year, scientists and doctors are working alongside each other to
answer that call and find a treatment or prevention technique that will help
patients with Parkinson’s disease find relief. Research is also seeking to
understand who is more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease and what about
their genetics and their environment increase their risk.

Here, some of what the future holds for treating and defeating
Parkinson’s disease:

Medicine that provides sustained
effects throughout the day

When researchers are developing the treatments of tomorrow, the first
thing they want to know is what the medicines do not address today. For
patients with Parkinson’s disease, one need is treatments that are sustained
throughout the day. Currently, patients may have to take several doses in a day
to sustain the beneficial effects of the medicine. Other patients experience worsening
symptoms in the evening, after medication is no longer effective.

Advances in Deep Brain
Stimulation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved deep brain stimulation
(DBS) as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease in 2002. However, since that time,
advances have been limited because only one company was approved to make the
device used to deliver the treatment. In future years, as more companies
explore this area of treatment, the breakthroughs in DBS will grow.

Gene Therapy

Parkinson’s disease cannot be cured, and the progression of the
condition cannot be slowed. Science also has no way to reverse the damage the
brain suffers as a result of the condition. Gene therapy holds potential as a
way to do all three things—cure, slow, and reverse Parkinson’s
disease. Several small studies have found that gene therapy can be a safe and
effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Larger studies are under way.

Neuroprotective Therapies

As researchers are trying to discover gene therapies that can prevent
additional damage as a result of Parkinson’s disease, other scientists and
researchers are trying to find neuroprotective therapies that can slow the
progression of Parkinson’s disease and reduce the loss of dopamine-producing
nerve cells. If such a therapy is discovered, patients diagnosed with
Parkinson’s disease can begin taking it as soon as they know their diagnosis.
This therapy could help stop the progression of the disease and prevent
worsening symptoms.

Looking for a Biomarker

For as much as we know about Parkinson’s disease, doctors have very
little they can use to evaluate the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Staging, while useful, only monitors the progression of motor symptoms related
to Parkinson’s disease. Other grading symptoms are used but not widely enough
to be recommended as a general guideline for physicians. However, a promising
area of research may make evaluating and monitoring Parkinson’s disease easier
and more exact. Researchers are hoping to discover a biomarker (a cell or gene)
that will help doctors and lead to more effective treatments.

Neural Transplantation

Repairing the brain cells lost as a result of Parkinson’s disease is a
promising area of future Parkinson’s disease treatment. This procedure replaces
diseased and dying brain cells with new cells that can grow and multiply. However,
neural transplantation has a rocky research past: Some patients have done
really well with the treatment, while others have seen no improvement as a
result of the treatment and actually developed additional complications because
of it.

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